Not Your Everyday Man
by NephilimEQ
Summary: Jack Carter isn't what he seems...but in a good way. PLEASE READ & REVIEW! I need reviews like I need air to breathe!
1. What They Don't Know

**CHAPTER 1 - WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW**

Jack Carter stared at the screen in front of him, silently reminding himself to keep the blank look of confusion on his face. On days like these, it wasn't too hard…for supposed geniuses, they really _were_ idiots, just as the Department had warned him.

"Uh…" he said, continuing to stare blankly. "What am I looking at here?"

Allison proceeded to respond in her usual, long-winded and slightly condescending way, while Carter tuned her out and silently wracked his brain.

_Okay…_ he thought to himself. _Now, how would Jack Carter respond? Remember…_ Jack_ Carter, not Johnson Carter. You're the simple, layman sheriff: Jack Carter._

Finally, he replied with,

"Wait…so we simply have to turn off," he gestured with his hand, "that thingy? The advanced optical, uh, whatchamacallit?" He inwardly cringed at how ridiculous he sounded, but pushed forward anyway, selling his part.

Henry nodded. "Yes, but in order to do so _safely_, we need to be able to deactivate its outer shield, otherwise," he said, motioning towards the picture on the screen. "The whole thing could become unstable and end up frying all of Eureka's electronics…"

Jack saw Henry's genuinely worried look and, reluctantly, gave up his hand.

"Uh, doesn't McPherson have that new thingy of his that tunes in with optical frequencies to do, you know…whatever it does? Can't we use that?"

He inwardly grinned like a fool when he saw four pairs of eyes look at him in shock, consisting also of Fargo and Zane.

Surprisingly enough, Zane was the first to agree with him.

"Actually…that _could_ work." He looked at the three scientists' eyes that were now focused on him with incredulous looks on their faces, and Carter watched in amusement as Zane winced slightly and then explained. "All we would need to do is adjust the settings so that it's on the same frequency as the A.O.W.R. and I could do that here in my lab."

Fargo slowly nodded.

"Well, considering what's at stake, as head of GD, I fully authorize you to do whatever is necessary to turn that thing off."

And with that, and a pointed look at both Henry and Allison, he walked as imperiously as he could out of the room…and then ruined it by stopping in the doorway, looking back at Carter and saying…

"Oh…Dungeons & Dragons is at your place tonight, right? Seven?"

Jack rolled his eyes and gave the younger man a nod. With that reassurance, Fargo left the room completely just as Jo Lupo, GD's very own head of Security and ex-employee of his, walked into the room, an amused look on her face at the last bit of conversation she'd heard.

She waited until Fargo was out of earshot before saying,

"Dungeons & Dragons, huh? I thought you were more of a Battleship type of guy."

Her grin was wide and he responded by saying, "Yeah, well, don't tell Fargo that. He's been kinda down recently, so I suggested we have a game night one night and made the mistake of letting him pick the game, so we now have a twice weekly D&D night."

She let out a small laugh and gave him a look, casting a glance around the room only to see Allison and Zane hard at work.

Jo's mocking grin, though, had softened slightly, as did her eyes, and quietly she said,

"He's been having a lot of pressure, recently, from the DOD…it's nice that you're helping him."

Jack just shrugged.

"Hey, it's what I'm supposed to do right? Protect and serve? Admit it," he said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants, "If Fargo gets sad, then he gets depressed, and then depression turns into homicidal anger combined with his dangerously genius mind, and the next thing you know we're trying to explain to the government why there's a crater where the Department of Defense used to be."

Jo chuckled at that and gave him another smile.

"You're not wrong about that."

Jack motioned to the immensely thickly clipboard in her hand. "So, what's that?"

She let out a long-suffering sigh and he tensed for what might be coming. He knew her tones and could read her sighs as easily as he could his own.

"As head of GD's security, because of the fact that we're under imminent threat of total electronic shutdown, that would also include the destruction of backup generators," she added as an important side note, "I'm required to check all electronic security in all of the labs and give out hard-copy instructions on specific manual overrides for each individual lab in case of actual electrical meltdown."

"Ah," he replied, giving her his usual look and she just smiled.

"Yeah, I know," she said, gesturing to the papers in her hands. "You don't envy my job now, do you?"

He gave her a grin.

"No money in the world…"

She rolled her eyes and then pointed with her head towards Allison and Zane in the corner of the lab. "So, what are they doing?"

Not thinking about what he was saying, he said…

"Oh, Zane is just recalibrating the ionic and electrical sensors in McPherson's quasi-optical slash ionic gamma inducer so that Allison and Henry can go ahead and use it on the Advanced Optical Wegman's Ray, so that it'll safely shut down without emitting any electro-magnetic pulses that could wipe out all of Eureka. It's fairly simple. My idea."

Jo looked at him in surprise, wondering at what he'd just said, but Jack, realizing what he'd almost revealed, quickly covered.

He pointed towards the three scientists on the other side of the room and then placed his hands on his waist.

"At least…that's what they told me."

He easily slipped on his adorable, layman's expression, slipped his hands back into his pockets, and hoped that Jo bought it…and silently sighed in relief when she just gave him a weird look and said,

"Okay…I'll just go ahead and give them their, you know, their papers…"

With that, she walked across the room, and the sheriff, seeing his moment, quickly escaped the room, knowing that the problem was pretty much solved and that they would no longer need him around. Of course, they never thought that they needed him until they royally screwed something up…which, in Eureka, was every other day, at _best_.

* * *

He stepped into his house and smiled when he heard…

"HELLO SHERIFF CARTER. HOW WAS YOUR DAY AT WORK?"

He smiled to himself as he slipped off his shoes and unbuttoned his uniform top and walked into the kitchen. "Good, Sarah. Thank you for asking. By the way, what's on the menu for dinner tonight?"

"QUESADILLAS, AS WELL AS CHIPS AND SALSA. DIRECTOR FARGO IS COMING OVER TONIGHT, SO I MADE HIM HIS FAVORITE DESSERT: DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES WITH KLINGON LETTERS IN RED FROSTING ON THE TOP AND VANILLA CREAM FILLED CENTERS. DO YOU THINK HE WILL LIKE THEM?"

Jack smiled as he heard this, opening the fridge and pulling out a cold soda.

"Yes, Sarah. I think he'll love them."

Taking a sip of his drink, he walked across the kitchen and into the living room, deciding to watch whatever game was on at the moment.

"Hey, Sarah," he said as he sat down, crossing his legs in front of him and propping them on the table. "What games are on right now?"

"NATIONALS VERSUS REDSKINS, JAZZ VERSUS BULLS, PENGUINS VERSUS-"

He cut her off. "The Penguins game, please. I think some mindless violence of men wearing too much protective gear that makes them look fat over a ridiculous small black object that's impossible to see ninety percent of the time is perfect."

With that, the television snapped on and he let himself sink into the couch and watched as the skaters flashed by on the screen, indistinguishable from one another, sticks scraping on ice.

He'd been watching for about fifteen minutes, and had actually started to enjoy the game, when the screen suddenly went dark.

"What the…"

But then a familiar blue and white logo appeared on the darkened plasma screen and he groaned. "Sarah, secure the front door, no one in for the next two hours, understood?"

"YES, SHERIFF."

"Oh, and Sarah?" he added, getting her attention once more. "Do you think I could have some privacy?"

"OF COURSE, SHERIFF."

And with that, he listened as she locked and dead-bolted the front door and then, with an almost inaudible sound, he heard her click off. With a sigh of relief and exasperation, he looked at the television and the familiar logo that graced its' screen and said…

"I'm alone. What do you need?"

The screen then changed to show him a face that was very familiar to him…but not to anyone else in Eureka.

"Johnson…it's so _good_ to see you. How are you holding up out there?"

Jack rolled his eyes and leaned back against his couch, pinching the bridge of his nose and silently wishing that he'd grabbed a beer instead of a soda. It would have at least loosened him up for the conversation that he was about to have.

"I saved their lives again, as usual, Sterling…" He paused and then leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, his drink balanced in his hands. "And, as usual, not a single thank you from any of them."

The man on the screen gave him a grim smile.

"Well, you knew what you were signing on for when we asked you to do this for us."

Jack grimly nodded, looking at the drink in his hands, debating whether or not to head back to the kitchen and switch it out for a Coors, but as he pondered it seemed Sterling saw how he looked at the glass bottle and he said,

"I'll need you sober for this conversation, Johnson…the orders I'm about to give you come from Drake himself."

At hearing this, the sheriff sat up and quickly placed his drink to the side and looked squarely into the eyes of the man that he knew as Sterling.

"Okay. Fine. What are the orders?"

Hearing the seriousness in his temporary employee's tone, the man got straight down to business and pulled something in front of him, beyond sight of the edge of the screen and then read what was on it, his tone somber.

"Certain…issues have come to light, recently. Mainly about a certain Dr. Blake at GD…" Sterling gave him a look, knowing that the sheriff had once been slightly attracted to the woman, but was reassured when he saw the man have absolutely no reaction to the mention of the woman's name.

"What about her?"

Sterling continued.

"Her work is promising, but some of her projects are walking a very fine line with what she is approved to do with GD materials. Dr. Donovan, also, worries us."

At hearing that, Jack couldn't withhold the snort of laughter that escaped him. He was not in the least bit surprised that Zane Donovan had captured their notice and that they were worried about him; he was a dangerous man, unpredictable at his best.

"No surprise there," he muttered under his breath.

Sterling quickly explained what he needed him to do.

"We need you to keep a close watch on Dr. Blake's projects…and since you're playing the small-town, Podunk sheriff, that shouldn't be too hard to do," he said, a slight sparkle in his eye as he spoke the words. He continued. "And of course, we expect you to do the same with Dr. Donovan."

At hearing this, Jack held up a protesting hand.

"Uh, not really gonna work, Sterling. The man kind of hates my guts, you know, with me being the one to put him in prison in the beginning and all…"

The man gave him a look, so Jack quickly came up with an idea.

"However, Zane does have a soft spot for Jo Lupo, head of GD Security? And she's always looking for excuses to annoy him, so I could ask her to keep an eye on him for me."

Sterling gave him a stern look, obviously not comfortable with the idea of someone outside of his influence being asked to help out on such sensitive matters. Jack saw the look, however, and quickly reassured his boss.

"I completely trust her, Sterling. She's good at what she does and doesn't ask questions about what she's asked to do. She can do it."

An odd look crossed his boss's face, making Jack slightly uneasy.

"She used to be your Deputy, correct?"

"Yeah, she was," the sheriff replied, wondering why the man was acting odd, but then forgot about it as Sterling quickly snapped back to military conciseness.

"Okay then, Johnson. I trust your judgment…don't make it misplaced."

And with that parting comment, along with a stern look, the screen went dark once more and then the game was suddenly back on the television. He watched as the Penguins got their first goal and then let out a deep sigh.

New orders, new focus. No more play.

* * *

**Part 1/?**


	2. And So It Begins

**CHAPTER 2 - AND SO IT BEGINS**

Jack was back at GD the next morning, two coffees in his hands.

He walked towards Allison's office, hoping to get on her good side, but was suddenly distracted by an unidentifiable blur that snagged one of the coffees from his hand, and he verbally protested against the blatant theft.

"Hey! That's not for…"

His voice trailed off as he realized that it was Jo who had swiped the drink. She gave him a look, arching one perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"What? Not for me?" She gave him a sly smile, and he couldn't help but start to grin. "Nice try, Carter…I could smell it as soon as you walked in the door. This one," she lifted her hand with the cup in it, "Has almond macchiato in it and is chockfull of caffeine and sugar. Mine."

She then motioned to the one in his hand.

"That one, however, is straight black coffee, one sugar and nothing else in it. Yours."

At that, his grin stretched wide across his lips and he let out a small laugh of incredulity.

"Nothing gets past you, Jo…"

She returned the smile and lifted her cup to him as she turned and walked away. "It better not…I'm head of security around here, remember? Thanks for the coffee!"

He let the smile linger on his face for a moment, feeling indulgent as he stared at her walking away, her ponytail bobbing behind her. It was times like this that made him happy to be Eureka. If he'd never come, he would have never met the friends that he had now. Like Jo.

Turning on his heel, a faint smile still lingering on the corner of his mouth, he continued on to Allison's office, silently configuring a plan in his mind to see what she was working on.

He walked in and quickly caught her attention.

"Hey, Allison…"

She didn't even look up as she said, absently, "Hey, Carter…"

He slowed his approach to her desk, seeing that she was in her zone of concentration. It was the perfect opportunity to strike.

"So," he said slowly, still taking measured and careful steps to where she was working. "What are you working on?"

She looked up at him in surprise, not quite believing that he was actually interested in what she was doing. The only time he was ever interested in the work of the GD scientists was when it was threatening the livelihood of the town and forced its' way into Carter's normally clear path.

She gave him a skeptical look.

"Are you being serious, or are you simply trying to make small talk to bring up some other issue?"

He gave her a sober look. "Completely serious."

At that, she let out a small laugh, obviously not convinced that he was being sincere. Surprisingly enough, for once he really _was_ being sincere. He actually really wanted to know…so that he could spy on her more effectively, of course.

"Yeah," he said, motioning his hand full of coffee in her direction. "I'm curious as to what a GD scientist does on a regular work day. What puzzles of the universe are you trying to solve on a weekly, even daily basis? I figure, if I can get a better feel for what GD does, the better prepared I can be for the anything and everything that happens around Eureka."

She completely turned away from her desk and gave him a long look…and then a slight smile crept over the corner of her mouth.

"It's a good idea, Carter, but most of the stuff, is, well…above your head?"

He looked affronted at her comment, so she quickly amended her statement with, "It's not that you aren't smart, Jack, it's just…I only have so much time and, believe it or not, I have to answer to Fargo as to how I spend my work hours."

He gave her a look and then a sly grin crossed his lips.

"How about you tell me what project has you so distracted this morning."

She gave him an odd look, as though trying to gauge how serious he was being, but she was surprised when he spoke up.

"Look, I know I'm not like you guys…" _Because I'm way smarter than you idiots,_ he thought to himself. "But," he continued, "I _do_ know that sometimes it helps to get a fresh perspective on the immensely complex things that you work on by being forced to explain them in simplistic or layman's terms. Helps you see things that you wouldn't normally see, you know? Like a step back from the microscopic scales that you're used to, and instead looking on them at the real world scale…"

Allison was surprised by his insight, but couldn't deny that he was right.

"Well," she said, drawing out the word slightly. "I guess I _have_ been a bit, uh, _too_ focused recently…tunnel vision and such."

He gave her a nod and lifted his cup towards her again, taking a long sip, not noticing the faint frown she sent in his direction.

Her brow furrowed as she spoke. "However, if I'm going to do this than you better drink that coffee here and not in the lab. No food or beverage is allowed in any of the labs at GD."

He heard the warning tone in her voice and gave her a sheepish smile before retorting with,

"Does Vincent's Food and Beverage department know this? I think they might have missed the memo." He grinned at her and gave himself an inward crow of success at his jab when she let out a long-suffering sigh and then left her chair and began to walk out of the office.

Before she left, she tossed one last comment over her shoulder…

"No coffee in _my_ lab, then."

He smiled to himself, following her down the halls to her laboratory, drinking his coffee as he went. This was going to be easier then he thought it would be.

* * *

An hour later, he was walking back into town, not having bothered with his car that day. He enjoyed walking; it gave him time to clear his head and to focus on some of theses that he'd recently been working on and planning to submit to the Department.

They were the only ones with the people who could understand his work.

The scientists at GD were children with Legos compared to what he and the people at the Department did.

At times, he wanted nothing more than to throttle some of them for their sheer disregard for what was going on in the other departments at GD.

The problem with the scientists there was the fact that all of them were so focused on their individual projects, that they didn't necessarily think about how it would affect other departments and other experiments that were going on at the same time, which is why they ended up with so many accidents…

…which was _exactly_ the reason why the Department had sent him.

At that thought, he sighed, and then thought of the few people who weren't that way.

Henry, for one. Vincent for another. And, though it wasn't always true, Fargo to some extent. It was strange, his relationship with the head of GD. Fargo easily had the most power in the entire town…but he constantly deferred to him, Sheriff Jack Carter, the _perceived_ town idiot, for advice and reassurance. In a way, it made himself the true power in the town…which, _technically_, was the truth. Though no one was supposed know, of course.

However, that then brought him to the last person…who was really the first person that he'd thought of. Jo.

A faint smile lingered on his lips as he thought of her.

Best deputy he'd ever had, and one of the closest friends that he'd ever had. No, scratch that. _The_ closest friend that he'd ever had.

There were very few people that he'd even _consider_ telling his huge secret to, but out of all of them, Jo was at the top of the list. And she always would be. He knew that she would cast no judgment against him for doing what he was doing, and he knew that she would keep the secret. No matter what.

When at first they'd butted heads, they had quickly developed a rhythm between the two of them that was comfortable and predictable.

Speaking of the ex-Deputy…

He saw her familiar form walk into Café Diem, so he decided to follow, realizing that he hadn't asked her to check in on Zane.

As he walked into the town's favorite bistro, he smiled as he heard her order for herself a vegan salad with a fruit dish on the side. Typical Jo.

His smile still plastered on his face, he walked over behind her and was pleased to see that he startled her when he placed a hand on her waist and said to Vincent, "I'll have the Cherry-Berry Ionic Blast smoothie, if you don't mind."

"Not at all Sheriff," he said, a grin on his face at seeing the head of GD security surprised by the older man.

"Hey, Jo…" he said, giving her a playful look. "Fancy running into _you_ here…"

She rolled her eyes and walked over to a table, where he joined her, sitting opposite her, crossing his legs.

She gave him a look, obviously trying to glare at him, but it soon dissolved into a smile that she was still trying to keep from fully stretching across her lips. Finally, she gave up at trying to suppress it and let out a small laugh, which he returned, but then went slightly serious.

"Don't do that to me, Carter…next time, you'll have broken fingers, you hear me?"

He nodded.

Jo then adjusted herself in her chair, leaning back slightly and she gave him a quick once over with her eyes.

"So, Jack…why are you here? Is there some sort of calamity at GD? Cause, if there is, it's going to have to wait until I get my lunch. I haven't eaten since five this morning," she said, looking longingly in the direction of the other patron's plates of food around her.

Carter let out a small chuckle and shook his head.

"No, nothing like that. More of a…well, a person problem. Singular. At GD…"

He let his sentence linger, and watched as she put the pieces together on her own. There was only one person who really fit the bill for trouble at Global Dynamics…

"Zane? Oh great, what'd he do this time?"

The sheriff let out another small laugh and shook his head in the negative once more. "Nothing, not yet…" He saw her look of panic at his choice of words, so he quickly amended them. "Nothing that I _know_ of. I just," he gestured with a hand, "Want to keep a close eye on him, that's all, and I'd like you to be the one to do it. Is that okay? I'll pay you," he deftly added.

A faint devious and slightly manic grin that he'd seen many times before crossed her lips.

"A chance to get on his nerves _and_ get paid for it? Hell, Carter, I'll do it for free just to see him squirm."

He smiled.

"Yeah…thought you might."

Just as he finished speaking, Vincent arrived with both of their meals.

"Sheriff, your smoothie…Jo, your very healthy, and might I say delicious, wholesome lunch. Enjoy you two," Vincent finished, and then walked away, a slight smile on his lips for some unknown reason. Carter caught the faint smirk on the man's face and he worried and looked at the drink in his hands.

Had Vincent done something to it?

Jo saw him looking at his cup and gave him a concerned look.

"You okay, Jack?"

Realizing that Jo was staring, he quickly shook himself from his reverie and gave her his usual dazzling smile, not realizing the effect that it had on her, and gave her a reassuring nod.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Jo. Let's enjoy lunch, shall we?"

He saw what looked like a faint blush on her cheeks, but brushed it aside, and the two of them struck up a conversation about the Penguins hockey game the night before, both of them very much enjoying their impromptu lunch date.

As soon as it was over, he escorted her to her car, his hand unconsciously at the small of her back, and he once again flashed her that smile of his.

"Nice seeing you, Jo."

She returned his smile. "You, too, Jack." She turned to get into her car, but then paused after she opened the door and looked back at him and then asked…

"Do it again sometime?"

He smiled. "Sure. Love to."

And with that, she left and for the first time, in a long time, he felt…happy. And not a single thought of his assignment or the Department graced his mind during his entire walk back to his house. He was happy, it had been a good day…and he was happy.

* * *

**Part 2/?**


	3. Suspicions

**CHAPTER 3 - SUSPICIONS**

Jack Carter was wide awake and unable to sleep. For some unknown reason, he was wired. His nerves were jittery and he couldn't seem to sit still, let alone sleep. His mind was still going over the information that he'd gleaned from Allison's tour of her lab and her project.

* * *

"_Twelve of the subjects have reacted well, but the other eight have had some unprecedented side-effects, so I'm having to rerun the trials…"_

"_Unprecedented? As in, unexpected?"_

_She let out a long sigh, and then gestured to the screen that held the information on it._

"_Well, yes…which is honestly what is confusing me. I've been referring to Johnson's research for most of it, and from what I was able to understand of it, this shouldn't be happening in my trials. In fact, the opposite is implied. I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong…"_

_He had to hold back a grin at what he'd just heard her say. Finally, he could take it no longer, so he asked…_

"_Johnson? Someone at GD I should know about?"_

_She shook her head, straightening up and leaning against the table, crossing her arms over her chest._

"_No, no one at GD. Johnson is a scientist who was employed by the Department of Defense when he was only eighteen. The only name that anyone has for him is simply Johnson. No one knows if that's his first or last name, but it honestly doesn't matter. The man's a genius!" She gave him a pointed look, an eyebrow raised. "And by genius, I mean he's a genius compared to all of the scientists here in Eureka."_

_At that, Carter let out a low whistle of "surprise", while trying to not laugh at what he was hearing._

"_So…what's so important about his research in relation to your project?"_

_Allison let out another sigh, dropping her hands to the desk to rest on either side of her as she explained._

"_He's a savant in bio-engineering, as well as mechanical engineering. Got two doctorates by the time he was nineteen, and made pioneering advances into biological technology. He was literally the person who jump-started the whole idea of getting rid of doctors entirely to instead have a complete array of artificially intelligent nano-bots put into the body at a young age and to grow _with _the host body and automatically take care of any underlying diseases, recording any and all medical issues onto a chip that they were all remotely linked to when they were first inserted…but it's never been done."_

_Jack gave her one of his typical looks, and then asked, even though he already knew the answer,_

"_Why not?"_

_She gave him a pointed look._

"_Because Johnson is a total recluse and no one knows where he is. He disappeared about nine years ago, along with all of his research, and hasn't been heard from since."_

_His brow furrowed slightly, mocking, though she didn't know it._

"_Well, why haven't people just used the research that he'd already done and make these, uh, nano thingies?"_

_Crossing her arms once more in front of her chest, she quickly explained the problem. "Because even _we _can't decipher his research. His I.Q. is off the chart, and coded most of the copies of his research notes because he was extremely paranoid that someone would steal his life's work. The notes we do have are _still _even mostly above our heads. Johnson is absolutely _brilliant_, and I've give anything to pick his brain about the work of his that I'm using."_

_She shook her head, and he bit the inside of his lip to keep from smiling at her predicament._

_Jack had seen the notes of his that she'd been using, and he knew exactly where she was messing up, and could suggest something to her in a roundabout way, using layman's terms…but he preferred to watch her sweat it out, for more than the simple reason of seeing her struggle at something for once in her life._

_The other reason was that he'd seen what she was trying to use it for…and it was walking a fine line between smart and devastatingly dangerous._

_He gave her a sideways look as she showed him something else._

_Yes…he needed to keep a close eye on her._

* * *

All of this passed through his mind as he got up from his bed and walked downstairs for a midnight snack, remembering the D&D game that he'd had with Fargo earlier that evening. As usual, Fargo had beaten him, but he didn't mind. He wasn't all that great at role-playing games.

He opened the fridge and looked at what he had…not much.

"Uh…Sarah?" he said tentatively, not sure if she was active, but then felt relief when she said…

"YES, SHERIFF?"

He smiled and said, "I was wondering what we have in the way of snacks. I'm feeling kind of hungry."

"OF COURSE, SHERIFF. WE HAVE CHEESE, PICKLES, PRETZELS, CRACKERS, SALTINES-" He cut her off. "Uh, what about sweet snacks…like cookies?" There was a pause, and then, "WE HAVE OATMEAL RAISIN, CHCOCOLATE CHIP, SNICKERDOODLES-"

He cut her off again. "Where are the snickerdoodles?"

"TOP CUPBOARD, FIRST SHELF, FAR RIGHT."

"Thank you, Sarah."

With that, he walked over and grabbed the box, and then pulled out the large gallon of milk from the fridge, not bothering with a glass. He needed some sweets, and these seemed to be just right for his mood.

The milk in one hand, the package of cookies in the other, he moved to the living room. After putting the cookies to his left and the milk to his right from where he sat on the couch, he grabbed the remote and turned on the tv, determined to watch some mindless television. After flipping through some channels, he was inordinately pleased to find cartoons; and not just any cartoons, but specifically Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner. His favorite.

Feeling very much carefree, he opened the package of cookies and unscrewed the cap of the milk.

A long sigh of contentment escaped him as he took a bite of the snickerdoodle and a long swig of milk along with it.

As he watched the coyote set up a large acme weight to fall onto the roadrunner, he couldn't help but think that Jo would enjoy this as well. She was a sucker for cartoons, though she would deny it to anyone else but him, and for as healthy as she was, she had a major sweet tooth that she caved into every now and again.

He continued to watch cartoons and eat cookies, until the next thing he knew he was waking up to blaring music.

Jack glanced down at himself and saw that he'd gone through half of the package of cookies and nearly the entire gallon of milk.

As he stood up, crumbs fell from his shirt to the floor, while a few of them still tenaciously hung on to the dark blue cotton of his shirt. Absently, he brushed his hands over his shirt and gray sweatpants, dusting himself off, and then looked around to see what time it was, but no clock was in view.

"Sarah, what time is it?" he asked as he turned off the television, wincing slightly at the loud sound.

"IT IS 7:30. YOUR ALARM IS SUPPOSED TO GO OFF IN TEN MINUTES, SHERIFF…WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO CANCEL IT?"

"Yeah," he said absently, not quite paying attention. "Sure."

Feeling slightly disoriented after sleeping on the couch, he put the cookies and the milk away and then headed back upstairs to take his shower and get ready for the day.

As soon as he'd dried off and slipped into his uniform he was feeling distinctly more like himself, and much less disoriented. He slid on his belt and clipped his sidearm on, the heavy weight familiar and comforting to him, grounding him back down to reality.

As he pulled on his shoes, he couldn't help but wonder at the fact that he'd gotten so comfortable with having a sidearm on him in such little time.

He stood up and walked back down the stairs, letting his right hand rest on the thick leather that concealed the metal that had become so wonderfully familiar to him in such a short amount of time. He couldn't deny that he got a thrill whenever he had to draw it, while at the same time feeling sick to his stomach. It was a strange feeling, but something that he had become accustomed to and found that he secretly enjoyed.

He'd had to train with the U.S. Marshall Service, as they were one of the few branches of government that actually knew what he looked like and what he did for a living.

And now that the weapon was a part of him, he didn't think he'd ever part with it.

Not feeling the need to walk, he took the jeep on into town, stopping at Café Diem for his morning coffee.

Stepping in, he quickly spotted Vincent and ordered his usual black coffee with one sugar. He smiled slightly as he paid the man, remembering running into Jo there just the day before, and then walked back to his car…where he nearly ran into the woman that occupied his thoughts.

"Jack…!" she said in surprise as he put his hand out to grip her shoulder and keep the both of them from toppling over.

He held on for a moment longer than was strictly necessary and was curious about the faint pink tinge to her cheeks as he did so, similar to her look the day before.

"Hey, Jo…fancy running into you here…_again_."

He slowly pulled back, and she gave him a faint smile, almost awkward, and he quickly broke the tension by saying,

"I just need to ask you one thing…can you please break that promise you made to me yesterday at lunch? I'd like to keep my fingers…" He grinned at her, and her awkward smile turned into a genuine one with just a twist of the corner of her mouth.

"Sure thing, Jack…I mean, Carter. Sheriff."

He looked at her, confused by her fumbling, and then reassured her.

"Jo…you can call me Jack. You always have, remember?" She nodded, and then left him standing there in confusion as she scampered off to her car and drove out of sight, heading off to GD in an invisible cloud of energetic particles.

Jo never scampered. It wasn't in her nature; she was a lion, not a squirrel…but at that thought, he laughed to himself. If Jo knew that he'd compared her to such an animal, she would have hurt him five times over, but as it was she didn't, so he let himself laugh about it.

Jack finally shrugged, and then walked across the street to the Sheriff's station.

Time to go to work.

Protect and serve.

* * *

**Part 3/?**


End file.
